Visual & Performing Arts

"Before a child talks, they sing. Before they write, they draw. As soon as they stand, they dance. Art is fundamental to human expression."

- Phylicia Rashad

Harvard University psychologist Howard Gardner makes clear that intelligence can take many forms—scientific, political, social, and artistic—and that all are important. This point is the basis of his theory of multiple intelligences and the mistaken notions that people often have about what being “smart” means. Gardner believes that even though no intelligence is inherently artistic, “each can be used to create or to understand artistic works, to work with artistic symbol systems, and to create artistic meanings”. A person with a high degree of linguistic intelligence, he says, might become a poet, a novelist, or a dramatist or, instead, a lawyer or journalist. A person with a high degree of kinesthetic intelligence might become a dancer or an athlete. The arts can provide an educational “way through” for many students and because everybody's mind is different, education should be tailored to the individual.

- Fowler, Charles, 'Recognizing the Arts as Forms of Intelligence', Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling (New York, 2001; online edn, Oxford Academic, 3 Oct. 2011),

"By integrating the arts into STEM, STEAM-focused curricula incorporate the study of the humanities, language arts, dance, drama, music, visual arts, design, new media and more. Students who explore and master any of these subjects can make themselves more marketable in today’s workforce, as 57 percent of senior leaders value soft skills more than hard skills, according to a 2018 LinkedIn report. Furthermore, a 2019 LinkedIn report notes that creativity, persuasion and collaboration are the top three skills companies seek in prospective employees."       

- University of Central Florida

". . . the arts have been an inseparable part of the human journey; indeed, we depend on the arts to carry us toward the fullness of our humanity. We value them for themselves, and because we do, we believe knowing and practicing them is fundamental to the healthy development of our children's minds and spirits. That is why, in any civilization - ours included - the arts are inseparable from the very meaning of the term 'education.' We know from long experience that no one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts."

- National Standards for Arts Education